Julep Maven Box

Beauty box subscriptions seem to be all the rage lately. For me, I’m too much of a cheapskate to pay $10-$20 every month for what is essentially a grab bag of samples, especially when it might be products I’d never use (self-tanner is a good example… have no use for the stuff). I much prefer to pick and choose exactly what I like, or at least be guaranteed what type of products I’ll get. That’s why I eventually caved and subscribed to the Julep Maven box.

Julep Maven Intro Box – Classic with a Twist

The Julep Maven box is a monthly subscription box which guarantees two shades of nail polish, curated to your fashion style, and another full-size Julep product, as well as a “surprise.” It’s priced at $19.99, which is a decent price considering each product (not including the “surprise”) breaks down to under $7 a piece. The nail polishes regularly retail for $14 each.

You can go to the Julep site and take the Julep Maven style quiz, which will match you up to the type of box you’ll receive every month. You aren’t locked into your box; they’ll send notifications before the box ships, and you can choose to switch boxes, or even pass entirely for that month. I like this choice and freedom over my selections much better. I especially like that you know exactly what you’ll be getting: nail polish and hand and nail treatments.

Once you become a Julep Maven, you’re entitled to 20% off and free shipping on all future purchases through the site (so each nail polish is $11.20 instead of $14). My style quiz selected the “Classic with a Twist” box for me. This is pretty accurate to my fashion style. I like to choose timeless pieces that aren’t overly flashy.

Left to right: Meryl, Barbara, Cuticle oil (freebie lip balm on top)

All intro Julep Maven boxes come with two shades of polish and a cuticle oil. The Classic with a Twist intro box comes with Meryl and Barbara.
Meryl is described on the site as “the perfect neutral, sophisticated grey creme.” I describe it as a darkened grey creme with a blue undertone. It’s the color of wet cement. It’s really lovely, though not the easiest to apply as cremes go and it had some trouble leveling out. It was opaque in two coats, though I probably could have used three to be safe on some fingers.

Barbara is described as “full-coverage magenta multi-dimensional glitter.” I wouldn’t agree with the full-coverage part. There was some pulling and tugging, which is typical of glitters. It went almost full coverage after three coats, but at that point the glitter did not lay flat on the nail and regardless looked a bit patchy. It was not overly hard to remove with the aluminum foil technique.

The cuticle oil comes in a slim glass tube like the polishes, but with a rollerball applicator. Mine leaked a teensy bit in the package to where the box and padding smelled of it. I wanted to toss this into my purse for on-the-go but I’m wary of further leakage. It smells fresh and herbal, but mostly of lavender. It is light, and sinks into skin quickly.

My surprise freebie this time was a lip balm with SPF 15. I was disappointed at first because, come on? A lip balm? Plus it is vanilla mint scented, and although I love mint, I usually hate anything vanilla scented. However, I’m actually quite pleased with this lip balm. It soothes my lips quickly, but doesn’t feel greasy or waxy. Better yet, it doesn’t taste or smell at all of SPF like most other lip products with sun protection. The vanilla mint is pretty tasty, too; it smells like Thin Mints almost.

Wearing Meryl

All Julep polishes are 4-free, that is, they do not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene or DBP. Julep is also cruelty-free, which is a huge plus.

I’m really pleased with the Julep Maven intro box, and I’m looking forward to my next box with bated breath now. 😀 Hopefully this doesn’t start a slippery slope of beauty box subscriptions… I have a weakness for receiving packages in the mail, and beauty boxes are an awful way to feed that addiction!

Have you signed up for the Julep Maven box yet? If you’d like to, please consider using my referral link to join up!

Disclosure: All product(s) featured in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. This post contains an affiliate or referral link.